About harryalive
Born in Pretoria in January of 1977, I have a scary collection of the blandest '80s hairstyles, outfits and shapeless vehicles of that decade. By mid '90s I finished High school in the 9th school I've attended and at the time thought I managed to shrug off the remnants of the '80s fashion. Looking back at some old photographs make me realise I was still very unfashionable.
After school, with a yearning to explore my origins, I headed into Africa to visit Lusaka where my father was born as well as Malawi, the birthplace of my mother. After visiting the old family farm in Zambia, I landed a Safari Guide job with my dad’s relatives. The safaris were in Zambia and Tanzania where I spent a bit of time and fell in love with the wild world. I picked up quite a bit of Swahili while there but certainly won't try and strike up a conversation to prove my worth in the tongue as I'm sure all remember is 'Hakuna Matata'.
Once again I got restless and headed to Tzaneen in South Africa to visit my family and while there landed a job as an apprentice Goldsmith.
From there my journey took me to Cape Town with the aim of furthering my jewellery skills to diamond setting but ended up as sailing crew on the Spirit of Victoria. What a wonderful time but it only escalated my adventurous side. Back north I went as I worked on a few farms to earn money for my new adventure. As silly as it may sound to anyone willing to listen, I planned a journey to sail an African Dhow from Dar es Salaam, plying the east coast of Africa, to Cape Town.
I had my Dhow but also a number of unsuspected troubles of South African Politicians gun smuggling to Mozambique, which made life difficult for any unsuspecting travellers on South African passports. Out of money and out of visas, I struggled my way by land, back up to Dar and then back to South Africa with my tail between my legs. I had lost everything, my pride with it. Coming through Bulowayo I got a ride with four men who at first seemed nice but after a detour into the bushes I finally got back to the main road with even less to my name. Despite the hurt along the way, I met some wonderful people and had an experience other couldn't even dream of.
Made it back to South Africa after travelling through many other parts of Africa and found my parents moved to New Zealand. This was a great chance for further exploration.
I got my 3 month visitor visa and landed in Auckland with the purest intentions to travel NZ and head of again. I fell in love with the place in the first week and started a job with Yachtspars, an aluminium mast manufacturing company. The very same company that Sir Peter Blake worked for, when he was young and adventurous.
Over the next 5 years, with studies in Medical Imaging and journeys to Africa as a game ranger, I finally became a certified marine rigger in Auckland and unsuspectingly one day met the most amazing girl I could lay my eyes on. It was time for a change again as the restless spirit came to torment me. Being in love I could not pack up and leave country this time so the better alternative was a change in career. I started working at Partridge Jewellers, one of the most respected jewellers in New Zealand and, with the help of my boss and wonderful friend Glenn Peachey, got qualified as a diamond grader. Despite all my prior principals of being a travelling bachelor for life, the feeling was right and Kylie Boyd and I got married and moved to Tauranga, the Bay of Plenty. Coming to the end of our third year in Tauranga now, I have manufactured and installed aluminium opening roofs and selling safety equipment to various industries including the mining sector. I have made many wonderful friends and have had great experiences.
Through my life journey so far, I have realised that I have a lot to offer to others who are willing to listen to some of the stories and places I have experienced. I have always had a camera on me through most of my journeys, and lost some too in Bulowayo, but have never thought of using my photos as my tool for storytelling.
I am training in the art of Photography to get to a level where I can be equivalent to the artists whose work features in magazines such as the National Geographic. To be able to take a single image of a setting, situation or scenario and transport the viewers into the image as if they were there themselves is what I strive for. Together with my ever yearning desire for exploration and travelling to remote places and partaking in ridiculous adventures, I hope to open up that world for the viewers and lighten their everyday routine with a distracting image that takes them to another world for a moment or two.
